Superintendent signs on; Cerro Coso college classes to open

New Superintendent -- The Tehachapi Unified School District Board of Trustees welcomed new superintendent Susan Andreas-Bernel with a unanimous vote of approval and a contract signing ceremony at the May 27 board meeting in the district board room.

The board expressed pleasure with the result of their intensive search that followed the announcement of the departure of Superintendent Lisa Gilbert, who has taken a position with the Kern County Superintendent of Schools.

"The superintendent we're getting appears to be a very impressive person," board Vice President Tim Traynham said.

An educator for 27 years, Andreas-Bernel began as an instructional aide and, as she continued to advance her education degrees, worked in Delano for 17 years as a teacher, vice-principal, principal and director of curriculum and instruction. She then became assistant superintendent at the Wasco Elementary School District, which shared a superintendent with Wasco High School District as the two districts moved toward unification.

Andreas-Bernel's husband, David, a 16-year resident of Tehachapi, works for the Kern County Sheriff's Department and is an active volunteer with Tehachapi Mountain Search and Rescue. They have four children and four grandchildren.

New college classes – Dr. Corey Marvin, vice president of Academic Affairs for Ridgecrest-based Cerro Coso Community College, told members of the Greater Tehachapi Economic Development Council on June 4 at the Original Apple Shed Restaurant that Cerro Coso will offer college classes in Tehachapi. Five classes will be offered at night in partnership with TUSD beginning Aug. 23.

The classes, he said, are designed to help students gain employment, to smooth the pathway from high school to college and to provide remedial instruction.

With tighter education budgets, he said, gone are the days when community colleges could offer peripheral subjects that people would study on a whim; the classes today are more targeted and focused.

"Students come to us because they want to do something," Marvin said.

Cerro Coso offers entire transfer preparation, he said, with support services, assessment and counseling.

The classes, to be held at Tehachapi High School, will be English 101; Freshman Composition; Math 55 (Intermediate Algebra); Music Appreciation (which fulfills a humanities requirement); Counseling 101, Tools for College Success; and General Psychology (which fulfills a social science requirement).

Cerro Coso has instructional sites at Lake Isabella, Edwards AFB, Bishop, Mammoth Lakes and online.